System and Methods for Increasing Website Advertising Revenue While Maintaining Low Latency

ABSTRACT

Header bidding systems and methods increase a number of advertisers that can place bids for an advertising impression while maintaining low latency in loading of the webpage. The systems and methods utilize a specialized control wrapper in the header to manage one or more additional wrappers so as to allow for simultaneous bid collection from multiple groups of advertisers, one group per wrapper, without experiencing the traditional increase in latency of page loading as the number of entities bidding on an impression increases. Each wrapper contains information relating to a separate subset of advertisers from which to receive bids for the advertising impression. The control wrapper, as part of the header of the webpage, controls synchronization and timing of the separate bid processes controlled by the various wrappers to ensure that latency issues are avoided while the number of bids received is increased and revenue maximized.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to generating revenue through ad placementon websites, and more particularly to systems and methods for improvingadvertising revenue on websites while maintaining low latency of loadingof website content.

2. Background and Related Art

Publishers of web content often seek to monetize their content byserving ads typically provided by third-party advertisers with their webcontent. Advertisers pay the publisher for the number of impressions(times the advertisement is displayed once on the web page) for the ad.There are several manners in which most sites monetize their traffic.Some publishers and/or sites serve ads without using an ad server. Thesepublishers/sites may either use a single ad agency, or they may hardcode the page to use Google's AdSense program to automatically provideads for the publisher/site. While this system provides some revenue tothe publisher, there is no competition for the publisher's impressions,and as a result the publisher realizes a lower revenue rate than mightotherwise be possible.

Other methods rely on an auction process to increase competition andrevenue. There are several main methods in which website advertisingspace is put up for selective auction by website publishers. The firstmethod is known as the waterfall method or daisy chaining method. Thismethod often utilizes systems such as Google's DoubleClick forPublishers (DFP) free ad server with AdSense. The second method is knownas header bidding. This method often utilizes systems such as Google'sDoubleClick for Publishers free ad server with AdExchange.

In the traditional waterfall or daisy chaining method, a ladder ofnetworks, exchanges, or supply-side platforms (SSPs) are set up in orderof preference or performance to the publisher, typically based on thepast record of yield of each network/exchange/SSP (revenue per thousandimpressions, otherwise known as revenue per mille, or RPM, related tocost per mille or CPM). When a page is loaded and an impression becomesavailable, the impression is redirected to each network until theimpression is sold. The theory is that as the impression moves down thewaterfall, the RMP decreases, but because lower networks have lessaccess to the best inventory to bid on, the impression will be sold atthe best price available.

Unfortunately, if no one wants to purchase the impression at a floorprice set up by the publisher, the impression is returned to a fallbackad server such as Google AdSense. or an in-house ad is run in theimpression. This system provides complete control with approximately tento fifteen percent loss rate of ads. Typically, approximately fortypercent of ads are filled by ad agencies in the waterfall, andapproximately sixty percent of ads are filled by the fallback ad server(e.g. Google AdSense or the publisher's own fallback ad agencies).

Additionally, the passing around of the impression through the waterfalland then potentially back to the fallback ad server increases latency ofad loading and of the page loading overall, which worsens the browsingexperience for the customer, which will eventually lessen theattractiveness of the website. The end result is reduced revenues to thewebsite publisher. Additionally, the waterfall system essentiallydepends on advertisers in a set network within the waterfall beingwilling to purchase at the set floor price without recognizing that thesame inventory could be purchased cheaper in a lower network.Furthermore, an advertiser in a lower network might be willing to outbidan advertiser in a higher network, but is never given the opportunity todo so if the impression is purchased in the higher network.

In header bidding, when a page is loaded, a header in the page causes anotification to be sent out to multiple demand sources simultaneouslythat the impression is up for sale. The publisher's ad server collectsavailable bids from the multiple demand sources and determines whichsource put out the highest bid. The highest bidder is notified by thepublisher's ad server, and sends its creative to be served on theimpression purchased. The publisher determines how many demand sourcesto allow to bid, keeping in mind issues such as fill rate, yield, andlatency. The header bidding process utilizes a JavaScript wrapper in thewebpage's header tag. Pages using header bidding often see an uplift oftwenty to fifty percent in yields over waterfall methods.

This system also provides complete control with approximately ten tofifteen percent loss rate of ads. Typically, approximately fifty fivepercent of ads are filled by ad agencies through the bidding process(typically at a higher revenue per impression) and forty five percent ofads are filled by the fallback ad server or the publisher's own fallbackad agencies.

Latency remains one of the primary concerns for maximizing revenuethrough header bidding. There is a correlation between the number ofdemand sources allowed to bid and page loading times. As discussedabove, slow page loading times negatively impacts the user experience,reduces traffic over time, and eventually reduces yield from biddingadvertisers. Some publishers have attempted to address latency issues bymoving significant portions of the header bidding process to the serverside of the process, wherein the browser makes a single call to thesupply-side platform, and the SSP makes calls to other demand sources,collects bids, picks winners, and gets the winning ad to the availableslot.

By way of example, a particular publisher might receive approximatelytwo to four dollars RPM providing advertisements without any type of adserver (e.g. hardcoding AdSense or using a single ad agency). The samepublisher might instead receive approximately three dollars to fivedollars RPM using a waterfall method in light of the increasedcompetition and better revenue rates. The same publisher might insteadreceive approximately five dollars to approximately seven dollars RPMusing a header bidding method in light of the superior competition andrevenue rates. Nevertheless, all existing methods for advertising arestill hampered by failing to maximize competition and in light of thelimitations imposed by the need to minimize latency.

Publishers are further limited in their ability to monetize their onlinecontent by the multitude of manners in which the content can beconsumed. Online content that was once consumed almost exclusively byconsumers through a browser running on a desktop or laptop computer isnow also consumed by consumers on tablets and smart phones. Thediffering devices have screens of different sizes and the site content,including the advertising spaces, is formatted and displayed differentlydepending on the device and the viewable area of the device. In someinstances, advertisers that would bid for impressions on a site to bedisplayed on a desktop or laptop are unwilling to bid for impressions ona site to be displayed on a tablet or laptop, because experience hasshown that the normal advertisement will not fit in the allotted space.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Implementation of the invention provides systems and methods forincreasing a number of advertisers that can place bids for anadvertising impression while maintaining low latency in loading of thewebpage. The systems and methods utilize a specialized control wrapperin the header to manage one or more additional wrappers so as to allowfor simultaneous bid collection from multiple groups of advertisers, onegroup per wrapper, without experiencing the traditional increase inlatency of page loading as the number of entities bidding on animpression increases.

According to certain implementations of the invention, a method providesan opportunity to advertisers to bid on advertising impressions for awebpage while maintaining a low latency. The method includes steps ofproviding a first wrapper as part of a header of a webpage, the firstwrapper containing information relating to obtaining bids from a firstsubset of advertisers for a first advertising impression for thewebpage, providing a second wrapper as part of the header of thewebpage, the second wrapper containing information relating to obtainingbids from a second subset of advertisers for the first advertisingimpression for the webpage, and providing a third wrapper as part of theheader of the webpage, the third wrapper containing information relatingto obtaining bids from a third subset of advertisers for the firstadvertising impression for the webpage. The method also includes stepsof providing a control wrapper as part of the header of the webpage, thecontrol wrapper controlling synchronization among the first wrapper, thesecond wrapper, and the third wrapper, receiving a request to load thewebpage, and in response to the request to load the webpage, using theinformation from the first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the thirdwrapper, with timing and synchronization controlled by the controlwrapper, to simultaneously obtain bids for the first advertisingimpression for the webpage from the first subset of advertisers, thesecond subset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers.

The control wrapper may be used to cut off bidding on the firstadvertising impression for the webpage after a predefined period of timehas passed. The control wrapper may cut off bidding before bids arereceived from all of the first subset of advertisers, the second subsetof advertisers, or the third set of advertisers. The control wrapper maybe configured to immediately terminate the bidding process of the firstwrapper, the second wrapper, and the third wrapper for the firstadvertising impression when bids are received from all of the firstsubset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the thirdsubset of advertisers.

The method may further include steps of determining a highest bid foreach subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression amongall bids received from the first subset of advertisers, the secondsubset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers and passingthe highest bid for each subset of advertisers for the first advertisingimpression to an ad exchange partner to permit the ad exchange partnerto exceed a highest overall bid. The highest bid for each wrapper andfor each ad unit on that page load may be passed to the ad exchangepartner (e.g. Google's AdExchange), and the ad exchange partner mustbeat the highest bid amount across all wrappers as well as a highestline item on a current waterfall.

The method may further include steps of determining a first subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the first subset of advertisers, determining a second subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the second subset of advertisers, determining a third subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the third subset of advertisers, and passing the first subsethighest bid, the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highestbid for the first advertising impression to an ad exchange partner topermit the ad exchange partner to exceed the first subset highest bid,the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highest bid.

The method may further include notifying a winning bidder of success inbidding for the first advertising impression and serving anadvertisement of the winning bidder in the first advertising impressionwith the webpage. The control wrapper may include information relatingto a refresh period for the first advertising impression, wherein thecontrol wrapper causes a refresh of the bidding process and delivery ofa refreshed advertisement after a predetermined time period. Thepredetermined time period for the refresh of the bidding process anddelivery of the refreshed advertisement may be modified basedconsiderations such as a date of the year, a refresh period set by awinning advertiser, or demand for the webpage on which the firstadvertising impression is placed.

The first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the third wrapper may includeinformation defining a size of the first advertising impression andinformation predetermined for each advertiser of the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers to inform each advertiser of the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers of the size of the first advertising impression and aplacement of the first advertising impression within the webpage. Themethod may further include a step of automatically notifying the firstsubset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the thirdsubset of advertisers of an of a different advertisement size accordingto a device on which the advertisement is to be displayed.

The control wrapper may be one of the first wrapper, the second wrapper,or the third wrapper.

According to further implementations of the invention, the method ofproviding an opportunity for advertisers to on advertising impressionsmay be concurrently performed with respect to a plurality of availableadvertising impressions in addition to the first advertising impression,up to as many advertising impressions are available on the webpage.

The method may also include steps of receiving a request to load thewebpage, upon receiving the request to load the webpage, setting up anynecessary bid protocols to obtain bids from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers, setting up a prebid engine adapted to send out bids to theadvertisers, and sending a call to prime an ad exchange partner to beprepared to receive bids from the prebid engine. The method may alsoinclude steps of detecting a type of device requesting to load thewebpage, loading a relevant portion of an ad unit array based on thetype of device requesting to load the webpage, and using the prebidengine and the relevant portion of the ad unit array to obtain bids fromat least a portion of the first subset of advertisers, at least aportion of the second subset of advertisers, and at least a portion ofthe third subset of advertisers.

According to additional implementations of the invention, a methodprovides for multiplying a number of advertisers able to bid onadvertising impressions for a webpage while maintaining a low latency.The method includes steps of providing a first wrapper as part of aheader of a webpage, the first wrapper containing information relatingto obtaining bids from a first subset of advertisers for a firstadvertising impression for the webpage, providing a second wrapper aspart of the header of the webpage, the second wrapper containinginformation relating to obtaining bids from a second subset ofadvertisers for the first advertising impression for the webpage, andproviding a control wrapper as part of the header of the webpage, thecontrol wrapper containing information relating to obtaining bids from athird subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression for thewebpage, and the control wrapper controlling synchronization among thefirst wrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper. The methodalso includes steps of receiving a request to load the webpage and, inresponse to the request to load the webpage, using the information fromthe first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper, withtiming and synchronization controlled by the control wrapper, tosimultaneously obtain bids for the first advertising impression for thewebpage from the first subset of advertisers, the second subset ofadvertisers, and the third subset of advertisers.

The method may further include steps of determining a highest bid foreach subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression amongall bids received from the first subset of advertisers, the secondsubset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers and passingthe highest bid for each subset of advertisers for the first advertisingimpression to an ad exchange partner to permit the ad exchange partnerto exceed a highest overall bid.

The method may further include steps of determining a first subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the first subset of advertisers, determining a second subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the second subset of advertisers, determining a third subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the third subset of advertisers, and passing the first subsethighest bid, the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highestbid for the first advertising impression to an ad exchange partner topermit the ad exchange partner to exceed the first subset highest bid,the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highest bid.

The method may further include passing the first advertising impressionto a static waterfall to capture any static bids exceeding a highest bidamong the highest bid among all bids received from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers, and a highest bid received from the ad exchange partner.The first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper mayinclude information defining a size of the first advertising impressionand information predetermined for each advertiser of the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers to inform each advertiser of the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers of the size of the first advertising impression and aplacement of the first advertising impression within the webpage.

The first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper mayinclude varying sets of information predetermined for each advertiserdefining differing sizes of the first advertising impression dependingon a resolution of a recipient device browsing to the webpage.

According to further implementations of the invention, the method ofproviding an opportunity for advertisers to on advertising impressionsmay be concurrently performed with respect to a plurality of availableadvertising impressions in addition to the first advertising impression,up to as many advertising impressions are available on the webpage.

The method may also include steps of receiving a request to load thewebpage, upon receiving the request to load the webpage, setting up anynecessary bid protocols to obtain bids from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers, setting up a prebid engine adapted to send out bids to theadvertisers, and sending a call to prime an ad exchange partner to beprepared to receive bids from the prebid engine. The method may alsoinclude steps of detecting a type of device requesting to load thewebpage, loading a relevant portion of an ad unit array based on thetype of device requesting to load the webpage, and using the prebidengine and the relevant portion of the ad unit array to obtain bids fromat least a portion of the first subset of advertisers, at least aportion of the second subset of advertisers, and at least a portion ofthe third subset of advertisers.

According to further implementations of the invention, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium stores computer program code configured tocause a computing device to implement a method for multiplying a numberof advertisers able to bid on advertising impressions for a webpagewhile maintaining a low latency. The method includes steps of providinga first wrapper as part of a header of a webpage, the first wrappercontaining information relating to obtaining bids from a first subset ofadvertisers for a first advertising impression for the webpage,providing a second wrapper as part of the header of the webpage, thesecond wrapper containing information relating to obtaining bids from asecond subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression forthe webpage, and providing a control wrapper as part of the header ofthe webpage, the control wrapper containing information relating toobtaining bids from a third subset of advertisers for the firstadvertising impression for the webpage, and the control wrappercontrolling synchronization among the first wrapper, the second wrapper,and the control wrapper. The method also includes steps of receiving arequest to load the webpage, and in response to the request to load thewebpage, using the information from the first wrapper, the secondwrapper, and the control wrapper, with timing and synchronizationcontrolled by the control wrapper, to simultaneously obtain bids for thefirst advertising impression for the webpage from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers.

The method may also include steps of receiving a request to load thewebpage, upon receiving the request to load the webpage, setting up anynecessary bid protocols to obtain bids from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers, setting up a prebid engine adapted to send out bids to theadvertisers, and sending a call to prime an ad exchange partner to beprepared to receive bids from the prebid engine. The method may alsoinclude steps of detecting a type of device requesting to load thewebpage, loading a relevant portion of an ad unit array based on thetype of device requesting to load the webpage, and using the prebidengine and the relevant portion of the ad unit array to obtain bids fromat least a portion of the first subset of advertisers, at least aportion of the second subset of advertisers, and at least a portion ofthe third subset of advertisers.

According to further implementations of the invention, the method ofproviding an opportunity for advertisers to on advertising impressionsmay be concurrently performed with respect to a plurality of availableadvertising impressions in addition to the first advertising impression,up to as many advertising impressions are available on the webpage.

While implementations of the invention have been summarized with respectto bidding on a single advertising impression or advertising unit on agiven webpage, the methods described above may be repeatedsimultaneously with respect to each advertising impression or ad unit onthat page load. In other words, each wrapper may contain code languageto permit a similar coordinated multi-wrapper header bidding process tooccur simultaneously through each subset of advertisers for each adunit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention will become more fullyapparent from the following description and appended claims, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are,therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the inventionwill be described and explained with additional specificity and detailthrough the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a depiction of a representative computer system for usewith embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a depiction of a representative networked computer systemfor use with embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a depiction of an exemplary header bidding process; and

FIG. 4 shows a depiction of an alternate exemplary header biddingprocess.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A description of embodiments of the present invention will now be givenwith reference to the Figures. It is expected that the present inventionmay take many other forms and shapes, hence the following disclosure isintended to be illustrative and not limiting, and the scope of theinvention should be determined by reference to the appended claims.

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for increasinga number of advertisers that can place bids for an advertisingimpression while maintaining low latency in loading of the webpage. Thesystems and methods utilize a specialized control wrapper in the headerto manage one or more additional wrappers so as to allow forsimultaneous bid collection from multiple groups of advertisers, onegroup per wrapper, without experiencing the traditional increase inlatency of page loading as the number of entities bidding on animpression increases.

According to certain embodiments of the invention, a method provides anopportunity to advertisers to bid on advertising impressions for awebpage while maintaining a low latency. The method includes steps ofproviding a first wrapper as part of a header of a webpage, the firstwrapper containing information relating to obtaining bids from a firstsubset of advertisers for a first advertising impression for thewebpage, providing a second wrapper as part of the header of thewebpage, the second wrapper containing information relating to obtainingbids from a second subset of advertisers for the first advertisingimpression for the webpage, and providing a third wrapper as part of theheader of the webpage, the third wrapper containing information relatingto obtaining bids from a third subset of advertisers for the firstadvertising impression for the webpage. The method also includes stepsof providing a control wrapper as part of the header of the webpage, thecontrol wrapper controlling synchronization among the first wrapper, thesecond wrapper, and the third wrapper, receiving a request to load thewebpage, and in response to the request to load the webpage, using theinformation from the first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the thirdwrapper, with timing and synchronization controlled by the controlwrapper, to simultaneously obtain bids for the first advertisingimpression for the webpage from the first subset of advertisers, thesecond subset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers.

The control wrapper may be used to cut off bidding on the firstadvertising impression for the webpage after a predefined period of timehas passed. The control wrapper may cut off bidding before bids arereceived from all of the first subset of advertisers, the second subsetof advertisers, or the third set of advertisers. The control wrapper maybe configured to immediately terminate the bidding process of the firstwrapper, the second wrapper, and the third wrapper for the firstadvertising impression when bids are received from all of the firstsubset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the thirdsubset of advertisers.

The method may further include steps of determining a highest bid foreach subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression amongall bids received from the first subset of advertisers, the secondsubset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers and passingthe highest bid for each subset of advertisers for the first advertisingimpression to an ad exchange partner to permit the ad exchange partnerto exceed a highest overall bid. The highest bid for each wrapper andfor each ad unit on that page load may be passed to the ad exchangepartner (e.g. Google's AdExchange, or a DoubleClick for Publishers adserver), and the ad exchange partner must beat the highest bid amountacross all wrappers as well as a highest line item on a currentwaterfall.

The method may further include steps of determining a first subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the first subset of advertisers, determining a second subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the second subset of advertisers, determining a third subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the third subset of advertisers, and passing the first subsethighest bid, the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highestbid for the first advertising impression to an ad exchange partner topermit the ad exchange partner to exceed the first subset highest bid,the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highest bid. The adserver then selects a highest overall bid from among the highest subsetbids, the waterfall, or the ad exchange partner (e.g. Google AdExchange,etc.).

The method may further include notifying a winning bidder of success inbidding for the first advertising impression and serving anadvertisement of the winning bidder in the first advertising impressionwith the webpage. The control wrapper may include information relatingto a refresh period for the first advertising impression, wherein thecontrol wrapper causes a refresh of the bidding process and delivery ofa refreshed advertisement after a predetermined time period. Thepredetermined time period for the refresh of the bidding process anddelivery of the refreshed advertisement may be modified basedconsiderations such as a date of the year, a refresh period set by awinning advertiser, or demand for the webpage on which the firstadvertising impression is placed.

The first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the third wrapper may includeinformation defining a size of the first advertising impression andinformation predetermined for each advertiser of the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers to inform each advertiser of the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers of the size of the first advertising impression and aplacement of the first advertising impression within the webpage. Themethod may further include a step of automatically notifying the firstsubset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the thirdsubset of advertisers of an of a different advertisement size accordingto a device on which the advertisement is to be displayed.

The control wrapper may be one of the first wrapper, the second wrapper,or the third wrapper.

According to further embodiments of the invention, the method ofproviding an opportunity for advertisers to on advertising impressionsmay be concurrently performed with respect to a plurality of availableadvertising impressions in addition to the first advertising impression,up to as many advertising impressions are available on the webpage.

The method may also include steps of receiving a request to load thewebpage, upon receiving the request to load the webpage, setting up anynecessary bid protocols to obtain bids from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers, setting up a prebid engine adapted to send out bids to theadvertisers, and sending a call to prime an ad exchange partner to beprepared to receive bids from the prebid engine. The method may alsoinclude steps of detecting a type of device requesting to load thewebpage, loading a relevant portion of an ad unit array based on thetype of device requesting to load the webpage, and using the prebidengine and the relevant portion of the ad unit array to obtain bids fromat least a portion of the first subset of advertisers, at least aportion of the second subset of advertisers, and at least a portion ofthe third subset of advertisers.

According to additional embodiments of the invention, a method providesfor multiplying a number of advertisers able to bid on advertisingimpressions for a webpage while maintaining a low latency. The methodincludes steps of providing a first wrapper as part of a header of awebpage, the first wrapper containing information relating to obtainingbids from a first subset of advertisers for a first advertisingimpression for the webpage, providing a second wrapper as part of theheader of the webpage, the second wrapper containing informationrelating to obtaining bids from a second subset of advertisers for thefirst advertising impression for the webpage, and providing a controlwrapper as part of the header of the webpage, the control wrappercontaining information relating to obtaining bids from a third subset ofadvertisers for the first advertising impression for the webpage, andthe control wrapper controlling synchronization among the first wrapper,the second wrapper, and the control wrapper. The method also includessteps of receiving a request to load the webpage and, in response to therequest to load the webpage, using the information from the firstwrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper, with timing andsynchronization controlled by the control wrapper, to simultaneouslyobtain bids for the first advertising impression for the webpage fromthe first subset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers, andthe third subset of advertisers.

The method may further include steps of determining a highest bid foreach subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression amongall bids received from the first subset of advertisers, the secondsubset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers and passingthe highest bid for each subset of advertisers for the first advertisingimpression to an ad exchange partner to permit the ad exchange partnerto exceed a highest overall bid. The highest bid for each wrapper andfor each ad unit on that page load may be passed to the ad exchangepartner (e.g. Google's AdExchange. or a DoubleClick for Publishers adserver), and the ad exchange partner must beat the highest bid amountacross all wrappers as well as a highest line item on a currentwaterfall.

The method may further include steps of determining a first subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the first subset of advertisers, determining a second subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the second subset of advertisers, determining a third subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the third subset of advertisers, and passing the first subsethighest bid, the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highestbid for the first advertising impression to an ad exchange partner topermit the ad exchange partner to exceed the first subset highest bid,the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highest bid. The adserver then selects a highest overall bid from among the highest subsetbids, the waterfall, or the ad exchange partner (e.g. Google AdExchange,etc.).

The method may further include passing the first advertising impressionto a static waterfall to capture any static bids exceeding a highest bidamong the highest bid among all bids received from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers, and a highest bid received from the ad exchange partner.The first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper mayinclude information defining a size of the first advertising impressionand information predetermined for each advertiser of the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers to inform each advertiser of the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers of the size of the first advertising impression and aplacement of the first advertising impression within the webpage.

The first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper mayinclude varying sets of information predetermined for each advertiserdefining differing sizes of the first advertising impression dependingon a resolution of a recipient device browsing to the webpage.

According to further embodiments of the invention, the method ofproviding an opportunity for advertisers to on advertising impressionsmay be concurrently performed with respect to a plurality of availableadvertising impressions in addition to the first advertising impression,up to as many advertising impressions are available on the webpage.

The method may also include steps of receiving a request to load thewebpage, upon receiving the request to load the webpage, setting up anynecessary bid protocols to obtain bids from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers, setting up a prebid engine adapted to send out bids to theadvertisers, and sending a call to prime an ad exchange partner to beprepared to receive bids from the prebid engine. The method may alsoinclude steps of detecting a type of device requesting to load thewebpage, loading a relevant portion of an ad unit array based on thetype of device requesting to load the webpage, and using the prebidengine and the relevant portion of the ad unit array to obtain bids fromat least a portion of the first subset of advertisers, at least aportion of the second subset of advertisers, and at least a portion ofthe third subset of advertisers.

According to further embodiments of the invention, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium stores computer program code configured tocause a computing device to implement a method for multiplying a numberof advertisers able to bid on advertising impressions for a webpagewhile maintaining a low latency. The method includes steps of providinga first wrapper as part of a header of a webpage, the first wrappercontaining information relating to obtaining bids from a first subset ofadvertisers for a first advertising impression for the webpage,providing a second wrapper as part of the header of the webpage, thesecond wrapper containing information relating to obtaining bids from asecond subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression forthe webpage, and providing a control wrapper as part of the header ofthe webpage, the control wrapper containing information relating toobtaining bids from a third subset of advertisers for the firstadvertising impression for the webpage, and the control wrappercontrolling synchronization among the first wrapper, the second wrapper,and the control wrapper. The method also includes steps of receiving arequest to load the webpage, and in response to the request to load thewebpage, using the information from the first wrapper, the secondwrapper, and the control wrapper, with timing and synchronizationcontrolled by the control wrapper, to simultaneously obtain bids for thefirst advertising impression for the webpage from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers.

The method may also include steps of receiving a request to load thewebpage, upon receiving the request to load the webpage, setting up anynecessary bid protocols to obtain bids from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers, setting up a prebid engine adapted to send out bids to theadvertisers, and sending a call to prime an ad exchange partner to beprepared to receive bids from the prebid engine. The method may alsoinclude steps of detecting a type of device requesting to load thewebpage, loading a relevant portion of an ad unit array based on thetype of device requesting to load the webpage, and using the prebidengine and the relevant portion of the ad unit array to obtain bids fromat least a portion of the first subset of advertisers, at least aportion of the second subset of advertisers, and at least a portion ofthe third subset of advertisers.

According to further embodiments of the invention, the method ofproviding an opportunity for advertisers to on advertising impressionsmay be concurrently performed with respect to a plurality of availableadvertising impressions in addition to the first advertising impression,up to as many advertising impressions are available on the webpage.

While embodiments of the invention are illustrated with respect tobidding on a single advertising impression or advertising unit on agiven webpage, the methods described above may be repeatedsimultaneously with respect to each advertising impression or ad unit onthat page load. In other words, each wrapper may contain code languageto permit a similar coordinated multi-wrapper header bidding process tooccur simultaneously through each subset of advertisers for each adunit.

FIG. 1 and the corresponding discussion are intended to provide ageneral description of a suitable operating environment in whichembodiments of the invention may be implemented. One skilled in the artwill appreciate that embodiments of the invention may be practiced byone or more computing devices and in a variety of system configurations,including in a networked configuration. However, while the methods andprocesses of the present invention have proven to be particularly usefulin association with a system comprising a general purpose computer,embodiments of the present invention include utilization of the methodsand processes in a variety of environments, including embedded systemswith general purpose processing units, digital/media signal processors(DSP/MSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), stand aloneelectronic devices, and other such electronic environments.

Embodiments of the present invention embrace one or morecomputer-readable media, wherein each medium may be configured toinclude or includes thereon data or computer executable instructions formanipulating data. The computer executable instructions include datastructures, objects, programs, routines, or other program modules thatmay be accessed by a processing system, such as one associated with ageneral-purpose computer capable of performing various differentfunctions or one associated with a special-purpose computer capable ofperforming a limited number of functions. Computer executableinstructions cause the processing system to perform a particularfunction or group of functions and are examples of program code meansfor implementing steps for methods disclosed herein. Furthermore, aparticular sequence of the executable instructions provides an exampleof corresponding acts that may be used to implement such steps. Examplesof computer-readable media include random-access memory (“RAM”),read-only memory (“ROM”), programmable read-only memory (“PROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), compact disk read-only memory(“CD-ROM”), or any other device or component that is capable ofproviding data or executable instructions that may be accessed by aprocessing system. While embodiments of the invention embrace the use ofall types of computer-readable media, certain embodiments as recited inthe claims may be limited to the use of tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable media, and the phrases “tangible computer-readablemedium” and “non-transitory computer-readable medium” (or pluralvariations) used herein are intended to exclude transitory propagatingsignals per se.

With reference to FIG. 1, a representative system for implementingembodiments of the invention includes computer device 10, which may be ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computer or any of a variety ofconsumer electronic devices. For example, computer device 10 may be apersonal computer, a notebook or laptop computer, a netbook, a personaldigital assistant (“PDA”) or other hand-held device, a smart phone, atablet computer, a workstation, a minicomputer, a mainframe, asupercomputer, a multi-processor system, a network computer, aprocessor-based consumer electronic device, a computer device integratedinto another device or vehicle, or the like.

Computer device 10 includes system bus 12, which may be configured toconnect various components thereof and enables data to be exchangedbetween two or more components. System bus 12 may include one of avariety of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, aperipheral bus, or a local bus that uses any of a variety of busarchitectures. Typical components connected by system bus 12 includeprocessing system 14 and memory 16. Other components may include one ormore mass storage device interfaces 18, input interfaces 20, outputinterfaces 22, and/or network interfaces 24, each of which will bediscussed below.

Processing system 14 includes one or more processors, such as a centralprocessor and optionally one or more other processors designed toperform a particular function or task. It is typically processing system14 that executes the instructions provided on computer-readable media,such as on memory 16, a magnetic hard disk, a removable magnetic disk, amagnetic cassette, an optical disk, or from a communication connection,which may also be viewed as a computer-readable medium.

Memory 16 includes one or more computer-readable media that may beconfigured to include or includes thereon data or instructions formanipulating data, and may be accessed by processing system 14 throughsystem bus 12. Memory 16 may include, for example, ROM 28, used topermanently store information, and/or RAM 30, used to temporarily storeinformation. ROM 28 may include a basic input/output system (“BIOS”)having one or more routines that are used to establish communication,such as during start-up of computer device 10. RAM 30 may include one ormore program modules, such as one or more operating systems, applicationprograms, and/or program data.

One or more mass storage device interfaces 18 may be used to connect oneor more mass storage devices 26 to system bus 12. The mass storagedevices 26 may be incorporated into or may be peripheral to computerdevice 10 and allow computer device 10 to retain large amounts of data.Optionally, one or more of the mass storage devices 26 may be removablefrom computer device 10. Examples of mass storage devices include harddisk drives, magnetic disk drives, tape drives and optical disk drives.A mass storage device 26 may read from and/or write to a magnetic harddisk, a removable magnetic disk, a magnetic cassette, an optical disk,or another computer-readable medium. Mass storage devices 26 and theircorresponding computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage ofdata and/or executable instructions that may include one or more programmodules such as an operating system, one or more application programs,other program modules, or program data. Such executable instructions areexamples of program code means for implementing steps for methodsdisclosed herein.

One or more input interfaces 20 may be employed to enable a user toenter data and/or instructions to computer device 10 through one or morecorresponding input devices 32. Examples of such input devices include akeyboard and alternate input devices, such as a mouse, trackball, lightpen, stylus, or other pointing device, a microphone, a joystick, a gamepad, a satellite dish, a scanner, a camcorder, a digital camera, and thelike. Similarly, examples of input interfaces 20 that may be used toconnect the input devices 32 to the system bus 12 include a serial port,a parallel port, a game port, a universal serial bus (“USB”), anintegrated circuit, a firewire (IEEE 1394), or another interface. Forexample, in some embodiments input interface 20 includes an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC) that is designed for a particularapplication. In a further embodiment, the ASIC is embedded and connectsexisting circuit building blocks.

One or more output interfaces 22 may be employed to connect one or morecorresponding output devices 34 to system bus 12. Examples of outputdevices include a monitor or display screen, a speaker, a printer, amulti-functional peripheral, and the like. A particular output device 34may be integrated with or peripheral to computer device 10. Examples ofoutput interfaces include a video adapter, an audio adapter, a parallelport, and the like.

One or more network interfaces 24 enable computer device 10 to exchangeinformation with one or more other local or remote computer devices,illustrated as computer devices 36, via a network 38 that may includehardwired and/or wireless links. Examples of network interfaces includea network adapter for connection to a local area network (“LAN”) or amodem, wireless link, or other adapter for connection to a wide areanetwork (“WAN”), such as the Internet. The network interface 24 may beincorporated with or peripheral to computer device 10. In a networkedsystem, accessible program modules or portions thereof may be stored ina remote memory storage device. Furthermore, in a networked systemcomputer device 10 may participate in a distributed computingenvironment, where functions or tasks are performed by a plurality ofnetworked computer devices.

Thus, while those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments ofthe present invention may be practiced in a variety of differentenvironments with many types of system configurations, FIG. 2 provides arepresentative networked system configuration that may be used inassociation with embodiments of the present invention. Therepresentative system of FIG. 2 includes a computer device, illustratedas client 40, which is connected to one or more other computer devices(illustrated as client 42 and client 44) and one or more peripheraldevices 46 across network 38. While FIG. 2 illustrates an embodimentthat includes a client 40, two additional clients, client 42 and client44, one peripheral device 46, and optionally a server 48, which may be aprint server, connected to network 38, alternative embodiments includemore or fewer clients, more than one peripheral device, no peripheraldevices, no server 48, and/or more than one server 48 connected tonetwork 38. Other embodiments of the present invention include local,networked, or peer-to-peer environments where one or more computerdevices may be connected to one or more local or remote peripheraldevices. Moreover, embodiments in accordance with the present inventionalso embrace a single electronic consumer device, wireless networkedenvironments, and/or wide area networked environments, such as theInternet.

Similarly, embodiments of the invention embrace cloud-basedarchitectures where one or more computer functions are performed byremote computer systems and devices at the request of a local computerdevice. Thus, returning to FIG. 2, the client 40 may be a computerdevice having a limited set of hardware and/or software resources.Because the client 40 is connected to the network 38, it may be able toaccess hardware and/or software resources provided across the network 38by other computer devices and resources, such as client 42, client 44,server 48, or any other resources. The client 40 may access theseresources through an access program, such as a web browser, and theresults of any computer functions or resources may be delivered throughthe access program to the user of the client 40. In such configurations,the client 40 may be any type of computer device or electronic devicediscussed above or known to the world of cloud computing, includingtraditional desktop and laptop computers, smart phones and other smartdevices, tablet computers, or any other device able to provide access toremote computing resources through an access program such as a browser.

FIG. 3 illustrates a header bidding process for illustrating embodimentsof the invention. A webpage 50 includes a header 52 and a body 54. Thebody 54 generally contains site content provided by a web provider thatthe provider wishes to monetize by selling space for display of one ormore advertisements 56 that will be displayed when the webpage 50 isloaded at a consumer's computing device (e.g., desktop, laptop, tablet,and/or smartphone). The advertisements 56 can be displayed at the top ofthe body 54, at the bottom of the body 54, to one or both sides of thebody 54, and/or inline with the site content within the body 54. Theadvertisements 56 can be displayed upon loading of the webpage 50, andcan be refreshed from time to time while the consumer is directed to thewebpage 50.

In general, the header 52 is not directly viewed by the consumer, butinstead contains code to provide resources and/or control to the webpage50 and/or the visible body 54. By way of example, the header 52 cancontain code controlling a header bidding process, such as code within awrapper of the header 52 that causes the browser, on loading the webpage 50, to initiate the auction for the one or more impressionsrepresented by the advertisements 56 on the page, by sending bidrequests 58 to a header bidding partner 60. The bid requests 58 specifyor identify the page on which the advertisements 56 will be displayed,as well as information regarding the manner in which the advertisements56 will be displayed. The system may use the Prebid.org engine or asimilar engine to facilitate collection of the bids from the variousadvertisers.

The information regarding the manner in which the advertisements 56 willbe displayed may include information regarding where on the webpage 50the advertisements 56 will be located as well as information regardingthe size of the advertisements 56. By way of example, one advertisement56 may have a size of three hundred by two hundred fifty pixels, anotheradvertisement 56 may have a size of seven hundred twenty-eight by ninetypixels, and another advertisement 56 may have a size of three hundred bytwo hundred pixels, and these sizes may be included, along with thesizes of other advertisements 56, in the information within the bidrequests 58. The size information may vary depending on the kind ofdevice on which the webpage 50 is to be displayed to account fordifferences in device displayable area, display orientation, and thelike. For example, a smartphone may have a significantly smaller screenthan does a desktop or laptop computer, or the smartphone screen may beoriented differently than a typical desktop or laptop display (e.g., aportrait orientation as opposed to a landscape orientation. Accordingly,the most effective display of the advertisements 56 may vary fromapplication to application.

To facilitate the bidding process, the content provider may work withadvertisers to pre-approve sites and advertisement sizes and/orplacements to obtain unique codes for each site and ad unit that willallow the advertiser to immediately understand the type of ad being bidupon. The content provider then maintains a database, spreadsheet,matrix, or other record of all applicable codes for all advertisers,such that the codes can be included in the wrapper of the header 52 andsent with the bid requests 58 to the header bidding partner 60.Accordingly, if the code in the header 52 recognizes a different deviceand/or screen orientation that causes size and/or placement of one ormore advertisements 56 to be varied, the code in the header 52 may causedifferent codes to be sent with the bid requests 58 to the headerbidding partner 60. In this way, the advertisers always know exactlywhat they are bidding on and how it will be displayed, and can modifytheir bids accordingly.

The header bidding partner 60 receives bids from the various advertisersidentified in the header code, and then when the bids have beenreceived, passes the bid information at 62 to an ad server 64 (e.g.Google DoubleClick for Publishers (“DFP”) with AdExchange), and the adserver 64 determines if there is an advertiser within the ad serverwaterfall that exceeds the highest bid received at the header biddingpartner 60. If so, the ad server 64 will serve that advertisement;otherwise, the ad server 64 will notify the winning bidder of thewinning bid and will serve the advertisement of the bidder who placedthe highest bid at the header bidding partner 60.

As discussed above in the background, however, as the number ofadvertisers from whom bids are sought is increased, latency of loadingof the webpage 50 will increase. Embodiments of the invention minimizelatency increases and permit obtaining bids from an increased number ofadvertisers without adversely affecting latency. The manner in whichthis is done is illustrated in FIG. 4. The header 52 in this example ismodified from the header 52 shown in FIG. 3 in that the header 52includes a plurality of wrappers each with information regarding asubset of the advertisers from which the content provider wishes to seekbids for the advertisements 56 on the webpage 50. For example, theheader 52 may include three separate wrappers, each having a manageablenumber (e.g., six to twelve, or any subrange or individual number withinthat range) of advertisers, and each wrapper being associated with adifferent header bidding partner. The three wrappers may each send outbid requests 68 to separately assigned header bidding partners, with afirst set of the bid requests 68 going to a first header bidding partner70, a second set of the bid requests 68 going to a second header biddingpartner 72, and a third set of the bid requests 68 going to a thirdheader bidding partner 74. By way of example, the header biddingpartners 70-74 may be header bidding partners such as OpenX, AppNexus,and Oath.

The individual header bidding partners 70-74 each manage the set of bidrequests 68 they receive, and because no header bidding partner 70-74receives more bid requests 68 than is predetermined to avoid incurringlatency issues, whatever that number may be objectively determined tobe, the consumer does not experience undue latency as the biddingprocess is performed.

To coordinate and manage the individual header bidding partners 70-74,the header 52 includes a control wrapper that manages and controlstiming and synchronization among the various wrappers. The controlwrapper may be one of the wrappers with information relating to a subsetof the advertisers (and accordingly corresponding to one of the headerbidding partners 70-74), or the control wrapper may be a wrapper that isseparate and apart from the wrappers with information relating to thesubsets of advertisers and corresponding to the various header biddingpartners 70-74. The control wrapper controls synchronization concernssuch as timeout, refresh, and anything else that the other wrappers aredoing in the header bidding process to ensure that bids are timelyreceived and processed in a timely fashion to ensure latency is keptwithin acceptable levels.

The control wrapper also manages refreshing of the advertisements 56 ofthe website 50. The control wrapper ensures that when the time comes torefresh one or more of the advertisements 56, that the bid requests 68are requested for each wrapper in the header 52 in a synchronized andtimely fashion. In the refresh process, the control wrapper againcontrols issues relating to timeout or other synchronization issues. Insome instances, the different advertisements 56 on the website 50 may beconfigured to refresh at differing intervals, or certain advertisements56 may be configured not to refresh at all, so the control wrapper neednot necessarily refresh all advertisements 56 at the same moment intime. Instead, the control wrapper may be configured to refreshdifferent advertisements 56 on different schedules or some not at all.

In some embodiments, the website publisher may elect to vary the time atwhich to refresh advertisements 56 on the webpage 50 according to avariety of considerations. Typically, it is acceptable to increase therefresh rate at times of higher demand, regardless of what is drivingthat demand. In some instances, the demand may be due solely to a highlevel of interest in the content of the webpage 50, and it may beadvantageous to capture additional revenue by refreshing theadvertisements 56 at a higher rate when high demand periods aredetected. Additionally or alternatively, expected demand for the contentof the webpage 50 may be seasonal, varying with the time of the year atwhich the content is delivered. For example, demand for the content ofsome sites may be relatively low in late winter and early spring afterthe major holidays have passed. Accordingly, a such a low-demand periodof time, it may be advantageous to avoid refreshing the advertisements56 at all, or refreshing the advertisements 56 may be at a longer periodsuch as every four minutes. As the year moves to later Spring and earlySummer and demand increases may merit refreshing of the advertisements56 on a schedule of approximately every three minutes. In late Summerand early Autumn, refresh rates may be increased to a schedule ofapproximately every two minutes. In late Autumn and approaching theholidays, refresh rates may be increased again to a schedule ofapproximately every minute. The changing refresh rates may be achievedby basic modification of the control wrapper only. In some instances,individual site demand may drive changes in refresh rate, such that therefresh rate of one webpage 50 may be significantly different from therefresh rate of a second webpage 50.

Modification of the refresh rate may also performed for other reasons,such as at the request of one or more advertisers. For example, anadvertiser may be willing to pay a higher rate for a permanent ormore-permanent advertisement. In such instances, the refresh rate forcertain advertisements 56 may be slowed or completely halted toaccommodate the wishes of such advertisers.

The control wrapper may also manage the process of determining theproper size and placement of advertisements 56 on the webpage 50.Accordingly, the control wrapper may be coded to detect or obtaininformation relating to the device receiving the website content, andcan use this information to select the information sent to the headerbidding partners 70-74 as part of the bid requests 68. Accordingly, theadvertisers automatically know exactly what they are bidding on,regardless of formatting differences from device to device in how thewebpage 50 is rendered. Thus, proper bid requests 68 are sent out to theheader bidding partners regardless of varying advertisement sizes,orientations, and placements that are selected based on the viewingdevice constraints, all controlled by the control wrapper.

The control wrapper manages the bidding process to ensure that thebidding process and advertisement delivery process completes within theconstraints of download of the webpage 50, so as to ensure increasedlatency issues are avoided. For example, it is common for sites havingsignificant amounts of content to take between three and four seconds toload and for the website content to be displayed to the user.Accordingly, the control wrapper manages the bidding process to ensurecompletion of the bidding process and delivery of the winningadvertisement 56 within this timeframe. By way of example, the controlwrapper may be configured to cut off bidding at the header biddingpartners 70-74 and to proceed with the remainder of the process after apredetermined period of time, such as approximately 1.5 to 1.7 seconds.Even if some bids have not been received at the header bidding partners70-74 within the predetermined period of time, the process proceedsbased on the bids that have been received with the allotted time toavoid increased page load latency. Additionally, the control wrapper maybe configured to recognize when bids have been received from allidentified advertisers and to proceed with the remainder of the processregardless of whether any portion of the allotted time (such as theapproximately 1.5 to 1.7 seconds) to further reduce the possibility oflatency. It should be understood that the allotted time to receive bidsmay be reduced for pages that load more quickly than the times listedherein.

When the control wrapper determines that the bidding process is completeat the various header bidding partners 70-74, the highest bid may bedetermined either overall, or, as illustrated in FIG. 4, for eachindividual channel (each header bidding partner 170-174), andinformation regarding the highest bid(s) received at the first headerbidding partner 70 can be passed at 76 to the ad server 64 (e.g. GoogleDFP with AdExchange) while information regarding the highest bid(s)received at the second header bidding partner 72 can be concurrentlypassed at 78 to the ad server 64 and while information regarding thehighest bid(s) received at the third header bidding partner 74 can beconcurrently passed to the ad server 64. In this way, the ad server 64receives three channels worth of bids from advertisers, typically fromdiffering advertising networks, all within the time that might normallybe allotted to receive bid information from a single channel using priormethods.

As may be appreciated, the receipt of bids from additional channelsmaximizes the revenue that may be received from monetizing theadvertising space within a webpage. Accordingly, the multi-channelbidding process, in addition to generally avoiding issues of latencyassociated with scaling up the number of advertisers reached through asingle header bidding partner 60, has been tested to provide revenueincreases of between several hundred to approximately one thousandpercent. Additionally, it has been found that the amount of advertisingimpressions falling to the static waterfall and/or being served by thefallback of the ad server 64 has been nearly eliminated, falling fromapproximately fifty percent of traffic to approximately fifteen percentof traffic. In some instances, the amount of traffic falling to thestatic waterfall or the fallback of the ad server 64 can be used as anindicator for setting the refresh rate of the advertisements 56 shown onthe webpage 50.

A result of the increased revenue rates captured in this manner is thata reduced number of advertising impressions are captured by serviceproviders such as Google's DFP with AdExchange, and the associatedwaterfall system, because the incoming bids generally, though notalways, exceed the rates set by the service providers. Even when anadvertiser on the waterfall is able to exceed the highest bid received,the process still maximizes revenue because otherwise the advertiser onthe waterfall would obtain the impression at a rate that just exceededthe lower rate obtained from the traditional single-channel biddingprocess.

While FIG. 4 illustrates three channels of bidding, header biddingpartner 70, header bidding partner 72, and header bidding partner 74,embodiments of the invention embrace the use of two channels of biddingor of more than three channels of bidding. Accordingly, FIG. 4 shouldonly be understood as being illustrative, not restrictive of the scopeof the invention.

After the ad server 64 determines the overall winning bid among thevarious high bids received from the header bidding partners 70-74 andits own advertisers/waterfall, notifies the appropriate advertiser, andserves the advertisement 56 as discussed above.

The control wrapper can be configured to facilitate additional timesavings to further minimize the possibility of increased latency.Accordingly, in some embodiments of the invention, the control wrappercauses the browser to set up any necessary bid protocols (e.g., theOpenX protocol and the District M protocol), and any associatedcommunication channels with the header bidding partners 70-74. Thecontrol wrapper may then set up a Prebid.org engine to handle the bidrequest processes with the header bidding partners 70-74. The controlwrapper then notifies the ad server 64. e.g. Google Tag Services,calling it into the browser to be ready to execute, but withinstructions to wait before doing anything.

Accordingly, embodiments of the invention permit website publishers toperform a header bidding process that obtains bids from an increasednumber of advertisers without adversely affecting page loading latency,thereby protecting the user experience while maximizing revenue for thewebsite publisher. By way of example, the control wrapper may beconfigured to connect to one or two large demand sources, such asAppNexus and Oath. The second wrapper may be configured to connect toone or two other large demand sources, such as OpenX, and the thirdwrapper may be configured to connect to one or two other large demandsources, such as District M's DMX exchange. Each connected demand sourcemay have thousands of buying agencies. Additionally, each wrapper mayhave direct relationships with large agencies and plug directly intodemand without going through external exchanges, thereby potentiallyimproving the overall price achieved. All this is achieved withoutincreasing latency because the different wrappers work in parallel toreceive bids.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:
 1. Amethod for increasing the number of advertisers bidding on anadvertising impression for a webpage while maintaining a low latency,the method comprising: providing a first wrapper as part of a header ofa webpage, the first wrapper containing information relating toobtaining bids from a first subset of advertisers for a firstadvertising impression for the webpage; providing a second wrapper aspart of the header of the webpage, the second wrapper containinginformation relating to obtaining bids from a second subset ofadvertisers for the first advertising impression for the webpage;providing a third wrapper as part of the header of the webpage, thethird wrapper containing information relating to obtaining bids from athird subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression for thewebpage; providing a control wrapper as part of the header of thewebpage, the control wrapper controlling synchronization among the firstwrapper, the second wrapper, and the third wrapper; receiving a requestto load the webpage; and in response to the request to load the webpage,using the information from the first wrapper, the second wrapper, andthe third wrapper, with timing and synchronization controlled by thecontrol wrapper, to simultaneously obtain bids for the first advertisingimpression for the webpage from the first subset of advertisers, thesecond subset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers. 2.The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising using the controlwrapper to cut off bidding on the first advertising impression for thewebpage after a predefined period of time has passed.
 3. The method asrecited in claim 2, wherein the control wrapper cuts off bidding beforebids are received from all of the first subset of advertisers, thesecond subset of advertisers, or the third set of advertisers.
 4. Themethod as recited in claim 2, wherein the control wrapper is configuredto immediately terminate the bidding process of the first wrapper, thesecond wrapper, and the third wrapper for the first advertisingimpression when bids are received from all of the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:determining a highest bid for each subset of advertisers for the firstadvertising impression among all bids received from the first subset ofadvertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and the third subset ofadvertisers; and passing the highest bid for each subset of advertisersfor the first advertising impression to an ad exchange partner to permitthe ad exchange partner to exceed a highest overall bid.
 6. The methodas recited in claim 1, further comprising: determining a first subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the first subset of advertisers; determining a second subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the second subset of advertisers; determining a third subsethighest bid for the first advertising impression among all bids receivedfrom the third subset of advertisers; and passing the first subsethighest bid, the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highestbid for the first advertising impression to an ad exchange partner topermit the ad exchange partner to exceed the first subset highest bid,the second subset highest bid, and the third subset highest bid.
 7. Themethod as recited in claim 6, further comprising passing the firstadvertising impression to a static waterfall to capture any static bidsexceeding a highest bid among the highest bid among all bids receivedfrom the first subset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers,and the third subset of advertisers, and a highest bid received from thead exchange partner.
 8. The method as recited in claim 6, comprisingnotifying a winning bidder of success in bidding for the firstadvertising impression and serving an advertisement of the winningbidder in the first advertising impression with the webpage.
 9. Themethod as recited in claim 8, wherein the control wrapper comprisesinformation relating to a refresh period for the first advertisingimpression, wherein the control wrapper causes a refresh of the biddingprocess and delivery of a refreshed advertisement after a predeterminedtime period.
 10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein thepredetermined time period for the refresh of the bidding process anddelivery of the refreshed advertisement is modified based on a refreshconsideration selected from the group consisting of: a date of the year;a refresh period set by a winning advertiser; and demand for the webpageon which the first advertising impression is placed.
 11. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the first wrapper, the second wrapper, andthe third wrapper include information defining a size of the firstadvertising impression and information predetermined for each advertiserof the first subset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers,and the third subset of advertisers to inform each advertiser of thefirst subset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and thethird subset of advertisers of the size of the first advertisingimpression and a placement of the first advertising impression withinthe webpage.
 12. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprisingautomatically notifying the first subset of advertisers, the secondsubset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers of an of adifferent advertisement size according to a device on which theadvertisement is to be displayed.
 13. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein the control wrapper is one of the first wrapper, the secondwrapper, or the third wrapper.
 14. A method for multiplying a number ofadvertisers able to bid on advertising impressions for a webpage whilemaintaining a low latency, the method comprising: providing a firstwrapper as part of a header of a webpage, the first wrapper containinginformation relating to obtaining bids from a first subset ofadvertisers for a first advertising impression for the webpage;providing a second wrapper as part of the header of the webpage, thesecond wrapper containing information relating to obtaining bids from asecond subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression forthe webpage; providing a control wrapper as part of the header of thewebpage, the control wrapper containing information relating toobtaining bids from a third subset of advertisers for the firstadvertising impression for the webpage, and the control wrappercontrolling synchronization among the first wrapper, the second wrapper,and the control wrapper; receiving a request to load the webpage; and inresponse to the request to load the webpage, using the information fromthe first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper, withtiming and synchronization controlled by the control wrapper, tosimultaneously obtain bids for the first advertising impression for thewebpage from the first subset of advertisers, the second subset ofadvertisers, and the third subset of advertisers.
 15. The method asrecited in claim 14, further comprising: determining a first highest bidfor the first advertising impression among all bids received from thefirst subset of advertisers; determining a second highest bid for thefirst advertising impression among all bids received from the secondsubset of advertisers; determining a third highest bid for the firstadvertising impression among all bids received from the third subset ofadvertisers; and passing the first, second, and third highest bids forthe first advertising impression to an ad exchange partner to permit thead exchange partner to match or exceed the first, second, or thirdhighest bids.
 16. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprisingpassing the first advertising impression to a static waterfall tocapture any static bids exceeding a highest bid among the highest bidamong all bids received from the first subset of advertisers, the secondsubset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers, and ahighest bid received from the ad exchange partner.
 17. The method asrecited in claim 14, wherein the first wrapper, the second wrapper, andthe control wrapper include information defining a size of the firstadvertising impression and information predetermined for each advertiserof the first subset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers,and the third subset of advertisers to inform each advertiser of thefirst subset of advertisers, the second subset of advertisers, and thethird subset of advertisers of the size of the first advertisingimpression and a placement of the first advertising impression withinthe webpage.
 18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the firstwrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper comprise varyingsets of information predetermined for each advertiser defining differingsizes of the first advertising impression depending on a resolution of arecipient device browsing to the webpage.
 19. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer program code configured tocause a computing device to implement a method for multiplying a numberof advertisers able to bid on advertising impressions for a webpagewhile maintaining a low latency, the method comprising: providing afirst wrapper as part of a header of a webpage, the first wrappercontaining information relating to obtaining bids from a first subset ofadvertisers for a first advertising impression for the webpage;providing a second wrapper as part of the header of the webpage, thesecond wrapper containing information relating to obtaining bids from asecond subset of advertisers for the first advertising impression forthe webpage; providing a control wrapper as part of the header of thewebpage, the control wrapper containing information relating toobtaining bids from a third subset of advertisers for the firstadvertising impression for the webpage, and the control wrappercontrolling synchronization among the first wrapper, the second wrapper,and the control wrapper, receiving a request to load the webpage; and inresponse to the request to load the webpage, using the information fromthe first wrapper, the second wrapper, and the control wrapper, withtiming and synchronization controlled by the control wrapper, tosimultaneously obtain bids for the first advertising impression for thewebpage from the first subset of advertisers, the second subset ofadvertisers, and the third subset of advertisers.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium as recited in claim 19, wherein the methodfurther comprises: receiving a request to load the webpage; uponreceiving the request to load the webpage, setting up any necessary bidprotocols to obtain bids from the first subset of advertisers, thesecond subset of advertisers, and the third subset of advertisers;setting up a prebid engine adapted to send out bids to the advertisers;sending a call to prime an ad exchange partner to be prepared to receivebids from the prebid engine; detecting a type of device requesting toload the webpage; loading a relevant portion of an ad unit array basedon the type of device requesting to load the webpage; and using theprebid engine and the relevant portion of the ad unit array to obtainbids from at least a portion of the first subset of advertisers, atleast a portion of the second subset of advertisers, and at least aportion of the third subset of advertisers.